Stuck in an Austin dining rut? Here are 7 new restaurants to try that opened this winter
If you love fancy dining experiences (in a town not known for them), you're in luck. Three of the new restaurants in town will fit the bill when you want to get dressed up, be seen and eat a massive steak (or maybe stick to a vegan-only menu).
But don't worry, lovers of casual dining. There's plenty of that as well. A great barbecue truck opened its first restaurant in January, as well as a sports bar specializing in pizzas and wings with Filipino influences.
Below are seven of the biggest restaurants openings in Austin this winter.
This glitzy steakhouse in a new building across from Clark's on West Sixth Street is a Houston import from the Sof Hospitality Group. The company operates similar Mediterranean-influenced steakhouses Doris Metropolitan in New Orleans (the original) and the River Oaks neighborhood in Houston.
In addition to dry-aged steaks butchered in house, the restaurant, which doesn't seem to currently have an online menu, features dishes with flavor profiles from the Mediterranean, from salads to lamb chops and slow-cooked short rib. Sof Hospitality founders Itai Ben Eli and Itamar Levy recently received a James Beard Foundation semifinalist nod for the outstanding restaurateur award. 1111 W. Sixth St. Instagram.com/aris.atx
One of the more elaborate and gilded entries to the Austin dining scene of the past year, and also a unique offering, this is a multi-chambered space that has an ornate main dining room, front dining and lounge area, and a space for live music performances.
Probably the most enticing part? One of the city's best chefs, Max Snyder, formerly of Pitchfork Pretty, is the executive chef, overseeing an entirely vegan menu with dishes like grilled carrots with ancho chili glaze, wood-fired turnip with potato fondue and kale salsa verde, and black truffle pizza. The restaurant/lounge/club is the first hospitality venture from hedge fund manager Bill Perkins (a vegetarian) and his wife, Lara.
As for the name, is it private? No. While there are member events, the restaurant's website reads, 'You are invited. You are welcome. You are extraordinary. We are ready. Our doors are open. It's up to you to find them.' The last part isn't that tricky. Jupiter Supper Club has a labeled door on Congress Avenue where the Townsend cocktail bar once sat. 718 Congress Ave. jupitersupperclub.com; IG: @jupitersupperclub.
After spending a dozen years establishing itself as one of Central Texas' best barbecue trucks, Micklethwait Craft Meats has graduated to a brick-and-mortar. And gone through a name change. The restaurant from founder Tom Micklethwait and pitmaster Ren Garcia is situated in a renovated old East Austin church, serving a menu familiar to the trailer's regulars: pork and beef ribs, brisket, creative sausages and some of the best scratch-made sides in the barbecue game. 4602 Tanney St. 512-791-5961, craftmeatsaustin.com; IG: @craftmeats.
A partner in one of Austin's best ramen spots has turned to his familial roots and family members for a new concept. Sazan Ramen partner Darrel Oribello teamed with his sons, DJ and Wesley Oribello, and partner Brandon Kim, for a sports bar serving a casual menu that blends his Filipino heritage with American comfort classics.
A roster of pizzas with ingredients like Filipino longanisa sausage and garlic adobo cream sauce center a menu that includes lumpia, birria poutine and roasted chicken wings. If the wings at Sazan are any indication, these should also be a hit. The restaurant and bar, located in the longtime La Tazza Fresca space, also features a full bar. 519 W. 37th St. oribellos.com; IG: @oribellos.atx.
When Saté, one of Austin's best food trucks, closed in 2022, lovers of the Indonesian operation worried that might be the last they tasted of Saté's delicious, tangy, chargrilled meat skewers. But, after a long wait, the owners reopened in a brick-and-mortar in Round Rock in late 2024. The skewers are on the menu, as are a roasted chicken dish, rice cakes, and steamed vegetable salad served with Saté's popular peanut sauce. 150 Sundance Parkway. Round Rock. satetexas.com; IG: @satetexas.
This is not a new restaurant, but an existing one that has moved into a new, bigger space. The Los Angeles-based omakase that started as a pop-up at a tiny space in East Austin in 2020 now has a downtown space all its own. The multi-course sushi meal that comes with a flare of showmanship shares space with a new cocktail concept from the group called Golden Ace.
Sushi | Bar, which now operates locations in Miami Beach, Chicago, Dallas and Nashville, also has a new partner in its Austin restaurant: the Black family behind Terry Black's Barbecue. Reservations at the restaurant that Joe Rogan helped blow up with a single Instagram post open on the 1st of every month for the following month. 419 W. Second St. sushibarhospitality.com/locations/atx/; IG: @sushibarrestaurants.
After several years spent building a small restaurant empire with locations in Houston, Denver and Miami, former 'Top Chef' and James Beard Award winner Paul Qui returned his attention to the city where he rose to culinary fame.
Top Roe has multiple personalities: there's the temaki sushi hand roll bar (you can only eat the rolls at the bar to ensure perfect temperature and texture), along with a cocktail bar and a dining room serving an izakaya menu that includes nigiri, dips, fried items and a sublime charcoal-grilled, dry-aged tuna steak. 120 W. Fifth St. toproe.com; IG: @toproe.atx.
What's in store? 17 new restaurants opening in 2025 in Austin to add to your bucket list
Fall for these? Over 20 new Austin restaurants to try that opened in fall 2024
2024 Dining Guide: Where are the best restaurants in Austin?
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 7 notable Austin restaurant openings: Sushi, steak, vegan, more
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